A tale of two sanctuary churches: Congregants in Ohio and the Netherlands find ‘instant connection’

012119-joel-miller-bethelchurchSource: PRI

By Tania Karas

For the past 15 months, a Mennonite church in Columbus, Ohio, has offered sanctuary to an undocumented immigrant mother from Mexico who sought to avoid deportation. Halfway across the world, in the Netherlands, a Protestant church has held services round-the-clock since October to protect an Armenian family from deportation after they’ve exhausted all legal remedies.

So, when a parishioner from Columbus Mennonite Church heard The World’s story on the Netherlands congregation last month, it sounded familiar. The Columbus church immediately reached out to the Bethel Chapel in The Hague.

That’s how Columbus Pastor Joel Miller ended up in the Netherlands delivering a sermon Monday.

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